Wheat News: India May See A Bumper Wheat Harvest this Year

As higher planting, cold waves in the past two weeks and a forecast for more rainfall, India may see a bumper wheat harvest this year. After worries that a moderate winter would hit yields, the chilly weather have boosted crop prospects.

Secretary at Department of Agricultural Research and Education, Trilochan Mohapatra said, “Across the country, wheat crop is progressing well. We are expecting yields to increase and production can easily cross 95 million tonnes. “

In 2013-14, India received a bumper crop at 95.85 million tonnes, but two years of unfavourable weather hurt production. In 2015-16, India produced 93.50 million tonnes on 29.25 million hectares, India is the world's second largest wheat grower after China.

This year till Jan 20, the area under cultivation jumped to 31.31 million hectare. 30.41 million hectare is the normal area under wheat planting.

Chief operating officer of agriculture business at ITC Ltd, Rajnikant Rai said, “The harvest will probably jump from the previous year and cross 95 million tonnes. According to our internal survey, the wheat crop is perfectly alright with a good winter season. The crop is developing well across all major wheat belts from Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana to UP." ITC Ltd is one of the biggest wheat buyers.

Wheat production was expected to be 11% higher than the previous year, because planting 7.25% higher than the previous year, said Prerana Desai, vice-president at Edelweiss Agri Value Chain.

Source: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/